Carry chains in reconfigurable fabrics serve a very important, yet very specific purpose: to facilitate the efficient implementation of arithmetic functions. Carry chains allow arithmetic functions to bypass the performance-costly general routing array. However, if a carry chain is not used for an arithmetic function, it becomes a superfluous adjacent cell interconnection resource. There are several challenges to carry chain reuse for non-arithmetic chains, some architectural, while others are based on tool support. What is needed is a modified cell design that facilitates carry chain reuse.
Therefore, it is a primary object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to improve over the state of the art.
It is a further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a modified cell design that facilitates carry chain reuse.
It is a still further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide a means of improving design performance at a minimal cost.
Another object, feature, or advantage of the present invention is to provide a means of improving design performance in a manner which is transparent to a designer.
One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims that follow.